Last year, on our way back from the Oregon Shakespeare Festival in Ashland, we decided to drive through Crater Lake, since neither of us had ever been there before. Unfortunately, as the person at the entrance booth advised us (after we paid the entrance fee), we were unable to see the lake due to a white out and snow.
So, before it got too late in the year, we decided to head there and try to see it finally, and see it we did!
We drove down 58, stopping for lunch at the impressive
Salt Creek Falls. Continuing South, we entered
Crater Lake National Park at the North Entrance and finally got to see the majestic blue waters of this giant, which is the deepest lake in the United States at about 2000 feet deep. The water is extremely clear due to no inlets or outlets, with water only from rain and snowfall.
We drove the west rim to our first hike, the Watchman Peak, a short, steep hike to a fire lookout on the west side of the lake. On a clear day, you can see all the way to Mt. Shasta in California.
We continued driving around the rim until we came to our next short hike, the Sun Notch Trail, which provides great views of the mysterious Phantom Ship rock, supposedly the remains of a previous volcano shaft that existed long before Mt. Mazama, the volcano that houses Crater Lake.
We camped at the Mazama Village Campground. For dinner, we had fire grilled chili-dogs and corn on the cob. When we drove into the camp loop for the first time, we had to go around a giant RV that managed to wedge itself into a tree enough that the fenders on the back were buckling and ready to come off. All while setting up camp, cooking dinner, and eating, we watch them talk about it, talk with others, and eventually a park ranger, who we think told them that it would be illegal to cut the tree down in order to unstick themselves.
Some time later, a gigantic semi-sized tow truck arrived on the scene and managed to navigate in through an alternate route to get in front of the RV. They talked, set things up, and finally pulled the front end sideways to get the back away from the tree. All of this took a good 2-3 hours, and of course, they had to have the big tow truck idle its engine the entire time, right next to our campsite. We had gone to bed by the time they left.
The next morning, we awoke to a brisk 37 degrees (last week we melted at 104 degrees, quite a change). The forecast low was 52, which is about the average for that day. The lowest recorded temperature for that day was in 1985 at, yep, 37 degrees.
We cooked another epic breakfast with bacon, eggs and smoked cheddar cheese, with blueberry pancakes, this time using our cool new folding dinnerware instead of disposable plates (thanks Carey!).
After breaking down camp, we drove to the rim and hiked the Discovery Point Trail from Rim Village to Discovery Point and back. This hike follows the edge of the rim for about a mile and a half. It was amazing to look down so far and see rocks 10-20 feet below the surface of the water. And the color is just something that has to be seen in person.
Returning to the car, we made the drive up the East Rim to complete the loop and then out of the park. For our return trip, we opted to take 138 west to Roseburg. This road has a series of smaller waterfalls and campgrounds. We stopped at Clearwater Falls, Whitehorse Falls, Watson Falls and Tokatee Falls, but were unable to get to the last one due to a closure of the area. Our guess, a bridge must be out. At the junction though, we decided to head up to Umpqua Hot Springs. The walking bridge is washed out, so the only way across the river to the springs is a downed log with some boards nailed to it. On the other side, and after a short and very steep hike, we found the hot springs, and luckily not too crowded (and thankfully, everyone had swimsuits on). The pools are various temperatures with the highest being 112 degrees, a bit to hot. I didn't have a swimsuit, but Alan had an extra pair of shorts, so he tried soaking in one despite the warm weather.
Driving further west, we drove through the active fire area. The road is now open, but there is still active fire fighter duty and it was a little smokey. At the end of the canyon, we saw the massive tent city that made up the fire fighters' temporary home. It still brings tears to my eyes thinking of those folks fighting fires and living in tents. They are brave and for that I am thankful.
From Roseburg, we simply took the Interstate home only stopping at Rice Hill for a shake and fries.
Pictures are here!
Last weekend we breezed up to see Jen, Lou, Sophie, and Kitty and take in the sights at Mt. Angel's Oktoberfest. They claim it has lots of visitors, 300,000... I don't know if it was that busy... ;)
We ate a lot of food. Most of it was fried. We also watched the wiener dog races. That was a hoot! The race we watched, the winning dog was so fast I almost missed it. We also spent some quality time listening to polka music.
